A white-tailed sea eagle has been killed in a collision with a wind turbine -- but the incident is not going to have a major impact on plans to reintroduce more of the birds to Ireland.

Eagle project leaders insisted yesterday that the biggest threat to the reintroduction programme still comes from poisoned meat.

The latest eagle death happened near Kilgarvan, Co Kerry. The bird had been introduced to the Killarney National Park three years ago.

The area where the bird was killed is designated as suitable for wind farms. Such collisions are commonplace in Europe and the US.

But Dr Allan Mee, project manager for the eagle reintroduction project, pointed out that this was the first such death involving wind turbines in Ireland. However, nine birds have so far died from poisoning.